Recruiting Strategy
How successful companies recruit
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
Orla Hodnett
HireHive
The titans of industry, Fortune 500 companies offer huge inspiration to leaders, entrepreneurs and even recruiters. Instantly recognisable Silicon Valley stalwarts and consultancy giants attract astounding talent. But, how exactly do they achieve this? Here’s a few of the techniques employed by these organisations.
Quelle surprise! A recruiting article that mentions Google! Google seeks the most innovative, independent-minded, hardworking candidates out there. Most organisations would share their high-standards and ambition for greatness, so they make a good example. Google’s recruiting strategies are world famous and this one is pretty unique.
It should never be the ambition of the interviewer to catch a candidate out, but an unusual line of questioning can reveal a great many things about a candidate
Recently Google has found candidates through their search history. One candidate, who was studying for a masters, found a conversation box on a page he frequently visited, which directed him to a challenge, which he had 48 hours to complete. After successfully completing it, he got a more traditional interview. This method allowed Google to test his skills, as well as acting as a method of sourcing.
Unusual interview questions have a considerable reputation in the world of recruiting. It should never be the ambition of the interviewer to catch a candidate out, but an unusual line of questioning can reveal a great many things about a candidate.
Apple favour questions like, “how would you explain a router to an 8-year-old?” If you don’t understand something fundamentally, you can't explain it in it’s simplest terms.
Anyone who is really passionate about their job has unending ambition, energy and the desire to be at the top of their field. Why should lego builders be any different? Lego commands the plastic, toy brick market. Like any politics student wants to be prime minister, like any drama student wants to win an oscar, like any engineering student wants to build a 200-storey skyscraper, it is the ambition of the professional plastic brick builder to work for Lego.
Lego recently held the Brick Factor to pluck the next great brick builder from obscurity. They did this ‘X-Factor’ -style with a 3-round live competition, with the winner being hired on the spot during the final. The stuff of dreams.
Developing an employer brand is a worthwhile exercise, which can attract wonderful candidates to your organisation
Jealousy is always a good motivator. It gives you a goal to work towards. Salesforce have leveraged that very fact in their recruiting strategy. Developing an employer brand is a worthwhile exercise, which can attract wonderful candidates to your organisation. Salesforce have not gone for subtlety in this case.
Their branding strategy is simple: post images of their job highlights and perks to social media (particularly Instagram), with the hashtag #dreamjob. No nuance or slight of hand here, just bringing out the primal jealousy in people, so that they apply for a job. Hey, if it ain’t broke…
In an ‘Inception’-style situation, how do LinkedIn hire? Well, one method is using their own tools. A chef should always taste their food, so LinkedIn’s faith in their own tools is reassuring. One of their strategies is a gentle form of digital marketing to passive candidates. They will advertise to LinkedIn users, through LinkedIn employees’ accounts, encouraging them to follow their own account. Rather simple and sophisticated really.
“HireHive makes the team a lot more productive. We’d be lost without it. Team Leaders can do it all themselves if needed or jump in at the right time and know exactly where everything is and what’s happening.”
Hilary Dempsey Head of HR at Life Credit union
